1. Go early in the morning, and pace yourself
“If you don’t regularly exercise, then I wouldn’t start exercising in a heatwave,” Rebekah Lucas, Associate Professor in Physical Activity and Health at the University of Birmingham, told Euronews Next.
But if you normally exercise and are relatively fit and healthy, there’s no reason not to keep working out if you feel like it – with some precautions.
Think about the heat as adding an additional exercise load, says Lucas.
“Just like you wouldn’t run the same pace up a hill, you shouldn’t run the same pace in a really hot environment,” she advised.
2. Swap out your normal routine for lower-intensity workouts
When it gets hot out, change up the intensity of your normal exercise routine, says University of Nottingham Sport’s fitness instructor Shoaib Raza.
A heatwave isn’t the time to be worrying about chasing personal bests, says Raza. For example, if you’re doing weight training, decrease the load, or put in fewer repetitions. If you’re a runner, put a pause on the long distances and opt for interval training.
Circuit training or interval training are particularly good options, he added, as these types of workouts naturally incorporate pauses for you to get in more sips of water or take a short break.
“In circuit training or interval training, you get that 10 seconds, 20 seconds in between sets or intervals, so that’s where you get a little bit of a break to recover plus drink more water,” he told Euronews Next.
Consider staying indoors to work out, swapping out a long outdoor run with activities like at-home resistance training with resistance bands or bodyweight training, or switching to yoga or stretching sessions.